There are many locations across the world that are plagued by natural disasters. Very few regions, in fact, are excluded from the risk of disasters, such as tornadoes, floods, forest fires, hurricanes, earthquakes, mudslides, or tsunamis. Accordingly, some consumers attempt to defray those risks by purchasing insurance policies for their property, vehicle(s), and valuable items. When disaster strikes, though the property, vehicle, or other item may be damaged or destroyed, these consumers have an avenue to recoup some or all of the monetary value associated with such damage or loss. It may be difficult for a consumer or a representative of an insurance provider to quantify or characterize potential damage to a property or other object either before or after the disaster occurs. For example, underwriting documentation regarding the property or object may be old or out-of-date, and/or no longer representative of the value of the property; or an extent of damage or loss may be difficult to visualize and capture without extensive research. There is a need for an efficient and effective method for enhancing a view of a likely disaster situation such that any damage or loss may be conveniently and accurately quantified, or such loss may be mitigated or avoided altogether.
The concept of augmented reality (AR) refers to a real-time direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment with augmented (or supplemented) elements generated by a computer. The AR view is generally presented on a display of a user computing device. The user computing device may use the view from a camera as a base or foundation view, and then augments or supplements the base view with the AR. The benefits of AR have been realized in some industries, including, for example, commerce, in which a user may scan or otherwise view a product and may be presented with additional images of the product; gaming, in which users may experience game play in a real-world environment with virtual supplements; and medicine, in which technology has been developed that maps subcutaneous veins and arteries onto a patient's skin.